Everyone's favorite RPG juggernaut has been making news like wildfire the last couple of days, with a flurry of announcements and a great deal of activity. Foremost among Square's announcements is the revelation that it has one further game to be unveiled. Now the timing of that announcement has been confirmed: Square will present its new title next week in the Japanese magazines Dorimaga. Nothing has been revealed about the game; there has been no mention of either platform or which series it might belong to. Naturally, this is fuelling speculation that the title could be the oft-rumoured Chrono Break or perhaps even a brand new title.

In an interview this morning, Yoichi Wada indicated he hoped his company would have two Game Boy Advance titles released by the end of the 2002 fiscal year. At this point, Square has announced Final Fantasy III, a new game to follow up Final Fantasy Tactics, and a remake of Seiken Densetsu. Of these three, FFIII seems the most likely candidate for quick release, as it was previously under development for the WonderSwan Color.

Next, the company turned its attention to its online venture, Final Fantasy XI. Communicating that its subscriber base currently sits at 120,000 registered users, Square is hoping to build that number to 400,000 worldwide over the next year. Final Fantasy XI will launch in North America sometime in 2003, and an advanced PlayStation 2 version will become available in Japan sometime in March 2003. The company is particularly eager to reach the 200,000 subscriber mark because that is the point where it breaks even on the game.

All of this adds up to a rosier financial picture for Square, which at the start of the fiscal year had not factored in a possible GameCube game. Forecasting at least a million units sold for FF: CC, that translates into a much more profitable situation than the company has faced in the past couple of years.

Expect further developments from Square over the coming weeks, as the Tokyo Game Show kicks off and the holiday season swings into full gear. As always, RPGamer will be there to bring you the news.